Red kite food6/4/2023 ![]() Deliberate feeding is another possibility. road-kill) and discarded human foods (e.g. ![]() Potential ‘inadvertent’ urban food resources include carrion (e.g. The Red Kite is a facultative scavenger with a broad and plastic diet (Cramp & Simmons 1980, Davis & Davis 1981) and is known to exploit anthropogenic foodstuffs (Wildman et al. Given the almost complete lack of breeding and roosting sites in the area, we assessed what foraging opportunities might be responsible for the common daytime presence of Red Kites in this urban area, where the availability of natural food is relatively scarce and human disturbance and threats are potentially high. 2013), and no substantial roost sites (N. This is despite there being a maximum of just three confirmed breeding sites in Reading and its direct surroundings (Bucknell et al. However, the species has recently become a common daytime visitor to a conurbation centred on the town of Reading (‘Greater Reading’), approximately 20 km south of the first English reintroduction site in the Chiltern Hills. However, it was thought unlikely that reintroduced Red Kites would also use urban areas to any great extent (Carter 2007) because modern sanitation and refuse management offer fewer foraging opportunities. Prior to their decline in the UK, Red Kites were commonly associated with urban areas, their scavenging diets resulting in royal protection for consumption of anthropogenic waste on the streets of London and other settlements in the Middle Ages (O'Connor 2000, Lovegrove 2007). The conservation significance of the increasing UK population is underlined by the species' continued decline over much of its core European range (Carter 2007). 1993) to over 2715 breeding pairs by 2013 (Welsh Kite Trust 2013). Since 1989, a staged programme has taken place across the UK that, together with recovery of the Welsh population, has increased the UK population from possibly just one successfully breeding female (May et al. The species was extirpated from England and Scotland by the late 19th century following sustained persecution, leaving in the UK only a small population persisting in Wales in suboptimal habitat (Lovegrove 1990, 2007). The UK's largest reintroduction attempt to date is that of the Red Kite Milvus milvus (Evans et al. Hundreds have now taken place worldwide, with mixed success (Seddon et al. ![]() Reintroductions or translocations of species are increasingly used to combat biodiversity loss (IUCN/SSC 2013). We suggest that the decision made by thousands of householders to provide supplementary food for Red Kites in their gardens is the primary factor explaining their daytime abundance in this urban area. Road transects found positive associations between Red Kites and residential areas. Using estimates of per-household resource provision from another study, we calculated that this is potentially sufficient to feed 142–320 Kites, a substantial proportion of the total estimated to visit the conurbation each day (between 140 and 440). Face-to-face surveys of a cross-section of residents revealed that 4.5% (equivalent to 4349 households) provided supplementary food for Red Kites in their gardens. Surveys of discarded human foods and road-kill suggested that these could support at most 13–29 Kites per day. Given a near-absence of breeding and roost sites, we investigated foraging opportunities and habitat associations that might explain use by Red Kites of this urban area. However, the species has become a common daytime visitor to a large conurbation centred on the town of Reading, southern England, approximately 20 km from the first English reintroduction site. ![]() The species was not expected to recolonize urban areas its historical association with human settlements is attributed to scavenging on human waste and refuse, a resource now greatly reduced on the streets of modern European cities. This species has been reintroduced across the UK over the last 25 years following its near extinction after centuries of persecution. One prominent example is that of the Red Kite Milvus milvus, a charismatic raptor of conservation concern. Reintroductions are commonly used to mitigate biodiversity loss. ![]()
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